Got Five Minutes? You Can Get Fit

September 25, 2012 17 Comments

Does it sound like I am trying to sell you a bridge? Or maybe Snack Girl has become one of those websites that PROMISES you will lose 5 pounds in 24 hours, if you just buy this potion.

Recently, a friend of mine asked me how to get fit and I found myself saying, "Start with five minutes." And, my friend said, "You should be on a talk show." :)

Most of us think that if we didn't go to the gym, sweat for an hour lifting strange objects or run like a gerbil - we didn't work out. And some of us, ahem, just give up THINKING about the gym and the gerbils.

That person is already overwhelmed before she even starts! The guru who told me about five minutes is a personal trainer who was my pal. She was helping me get back on track after having spent too many hours in a library consuming M&M's and sitting on my butt.

Yes, I had stopped moving and I couldn't conceive of what it would take to get me in any sort of shape where I felt good again. So, five minutes.

I put on my watch, walked out my door, and walked for 2.5 minutes away from my house and then I walked 2.5 minutes back to my house. I committed to doing this every other day for a week.

Then, the next week I committed to 10 minutes (5 away and 5 back). The third week of walking included 15 minutes - and then I noticed something profound.

I felt like walking!

If you had asked me before I started my five minutes - "Do you want to walk today?" - I would have said, "No way, I want to sit on this couch and turn on the boob tube."

After a couple of weeks of doing just a WEE bit of exercise - I felt like getting off the couch. More importantly, if I took a day off from my walk - I missed it!

Strange, no?

Recently, a study was published on the effect of a wee bit of exercise on people in Taiwan (see 15 minutes of Daily Exercise Can Help).

The study found those who exercised just 15 minutes a day — or 90 minutes a week — cut their risk of death by 14 percent and extended their life expectancy by three years compared with those who did no exercise.

Yes, I want three more years of life. And, yes, I can find 90 minutes a week for exercise!

The message is that any physical activity is better than ZERO physical activity. We all have our excuses for not being fit - time and money are the most prevalent.

You see, I don't have $70 a month for a gym, and I don't have an hour a day to exercise there anyway.

I DO have shoes and 15 minutes, though.

Please share your thoughts on time, money, and exercise.